Friends forging a course together through the unexpected

Unfortunately I do not have a project update on the desk for this week. My friend Jill visited a few weeks ago and dropped off my stencil, so now I’ll be able to start on the detail work! More details and the final review to hopefully come before the end of June.

One reason the desk got sidelined was to redo my dining room chairs. From my previous post about lots and lots of furniture, Matt got my old chairs and my old dining room table. Being a gracious and awesome person, I offered to redo the chairs for a few reasons:

The first time I redid my dining room chairs I totally forgot the batting;

I cut the new cushions a little too short;

And most recently the fabric was subject to two cats with claws…

As you can imagine now knowing the background, the chairs were sorely in need of a little TLC. My mom and I went to JoAnn’s to pick out a “manly” fabric and we selected this stripe pattern. Of course I didn’t realize until Jill pointed it out that stripes are one of the hardest fabrics to work with…oops!

Armed with my new fabric I was ready to get started. I also had an awesome helper (Jill), who once again reminded me to get the batting this time. We might have done a last minute run to JoAnn’s….it happens!

Jill was a huge help and right away we got an assembly line going. I took apart the chairs and together we divided up the seats and removed the old fabric. Our next step was to staple the batting over the foam. Once the batting was set, we carefully stapled the fabric. The key with the fabric and the batting was to pull tight and be sure not to cover up the screw holes to re-attach the seats to the chair.
I think the final product turned out pretty decent. What do you think?

Like this:

So after Tom yelled at me for not completing my homework of actually finishing the bench, in one of my recent posts, I decided to finally take care of business.

The few last items I had to take care of included painting and upholstery. The remaining items to be painted were the “spindles” as I’m calling them that are almost arm rests for the bench.

Painted Spindles

Once that was completed I moved on to re-upholstering the bench top. Luckily I had an extra pillow sham that I put to use. I only had to tear apart a few seems in the back to make it slip on like a glove. With my trust staple gun I got to work. Pulling the corners tight I started stapling from the left and worked my way around. The key is definitely to make sure you’re holding the fabric as taught to the back. I think the final product turned out well.

Fabric on the bench seat

All my last final pieces were finally done. I’d like to say I’m finished with my homework now. Hopefully Tom doesn’t take of any points for being late…

Like this:

I’m not sure if you remember, but back in June, I posted an article about a bench. It was a great Craiglist find and sat comfortably in my room for three years. Somehow it always stayed on the back burner of my project lists. The bench was only on display in my room so it was easy to pass it by and think I’ll just get to that later.

Well, finally, later has arrived. What boosted the determination to get ‘er done? Simply put, it’s the warm weather. Back over Christmas break I was able to sand the bench down. However, that blip of warm weather didn’t last long enough for me to get a few coats of paint on the bench. So it sat out on the porch waiting for the warmer weather to return.

Luckily, this week we’ve been enjoying mid 60’s with light breezes. Perfect for painting! Since it’s going in my bedroom, I wanted it to match the end tables I refinished last year.

Monday evening I was able to finish a few sanding touch-ups and get the first layer of paint. Tuesday after work I layered on the second coat and third coat. I was hoping I would be able to finish it up tonight but looks like the detail work will have to wait for later this week. But at least you can see somewhat of a final production.

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Don’t worry I’ll post about the final outcome next week complete with pictures.

So you’re probably wondering what’s the next project? Well, it’s actually a desk for Kelly and it’s going to be awesome! Better stay tuned for updates!

Like this:

When we first moved into our apartment I gained a lot more space in my bedroom. Unlike my room at my parents’ house, I didn’t need to fit a desk and chair in the room along with my bed and two dressers. The extra space is totally welcome, however, I did miss having a place to put my clothes out for the next day.

Since I had extra space to fill, I scoured my favorite furniture outlet, Craigslist for a few potential pieces. After searching for about a month, I found the perfect little bench for the bargain price of $20.

It’s been almost two years since the purchase date of said bench. The only modification to date has been its’ reupholstering. Using an extra pillow sham from my bedspread, I tore up the back seams and was able to use it as a cover over the existing fabric.

Not too bad huh? A few staples to make sure everything looked nice and I was done.

The next summer project

But since I re-did my bedroom end tables in January, it’s left me to ponder more about the bench. Maybe I’m not quite done with it just yet….

Our friend Holly had brought over the paint I used on the end tables as part of our swap, (read about that here) and I still have some leftover. So, theoretically I could end up with a nice three-piece set. I’m debating about doing a darker color with light accents. Kind of a reverse of the end tables, what do you think? I’m totally open to suggestions!

Like this:

About a year ago I became hooked on a blog called Nuestra Vida Dulce. Joi, the blog’s writer, writes about decorating her sweet little home with DIY projects. She also combs Craigslist for awesome deals in cities all over the country. She calls these entries: What’s Good in Your Hood {City}. Her style is a bit modern for me, but the things she puts together flow so well it has captivated me. Soon her obsession for bamboo furniture became my obsession with finding a bamboo office chair.

I searched Chicago Craigslist for a week or so and finally one day this found this listing:

I emailed the seller (located 150 miles away, Yikes!) and negotiated my way into purchasing one bamboo chair for half price. My sister promised me she’d make the trip across the state with me to pick up the chair. Then it hit me. My friend was living in Peoria attending Bradley. I could ask her to pick the chair up and bring it to me the next time she visited home! I called her up and she graciously agreed to help with the bamboo chair quest.

While I waited eagerly for my bamboo chair I set to work finding a fabric I liked. My poor sister waited while I hemmed and hawed over quite a few choices (as I’ve told you before I get overwhelmed by choices!). In the end I chose something bright that also complemented the chairs grey frame. I researched a couple reupholsters and Karla joined me on an excursion to a shop in the city where I learned I would also have to purchase gimp (trim) in order to have the piece complete. I was discouraged that I would have to wait longer for my chair, but I made my way back to the fabric store and found gimp that matched. I brought my precious chair to Elite Upholstery in Oak Park and bargained with them. I ended up with a discounted price as well as a seat replacement and they even provided a better looking gimp for free! They do really exceptional work and my dream of a bamboo office chair has finally come true.